Vedic Convocation

3^rd July 2010

I was at the convocation ceremony of SMOT School of Business. Dr. N Jayashankaran who gave the welcome sddress mentioned t hat there was a convocation in the vedic period too. After the students had completed their education and passed the necessary tests, they had a sishyanuvachanam when great Rishi’s (Vice Chancellors of universities?) were invited and asked to address them on topics of relevance. One of the suggestions that these rishis gave them was: “Svadhyaya Pramavithavayam thus stressing the need for continuous learning and encouraging them to become life long learners.

My Children are being Children

02.07.2010

I attended the MMA Management Excellence Awards function. I met Mr. V Ramamoorthy, Former IAS officer. He is pretty aged now. Although he is bent double and his voice is a bit quivering, his intellect is still pure and his clarity of thought is unaffected. An example of the triumph of the spirit over flesh.

He asked me what my children are doing. After telling him which class they were in at school, I said, 'Sir, my children are being children, which is what I want them to do now. After all this is the only time in their life when they would ever be children.' He really connected with this thought and laughed heartily with me.

Extraordinary Common Sense

25.06.2010

I attended a seminar on International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) organized by the Confederation of India Industries (CII). The knowledge partner was the Big Four firm Ernst & Young. One of the speakers from industry shared a lot of practical tips about implementing IFRS in Indian companies.

Exploring benefits of IFRS Implementation

1. Leverage existing projects.

(Eg. IFRS and ERP combined)

2. Conduct a Trial Run by piloting it in a single unit.

3. Consider shared service centres.

4. Strengthen controls, especially in decentralized operations

5. Revisit ALL your Accounting Policies - More accurate and timely reporting

6. Improve your access to Global sources of Finance

He identifies the following barriers to effective implementation of IFRS.

· The resources and time required are grossly underestimated

· Don’t outsource IFRS implementation which is a heavy, unsustainable use of resources

· Lack of Holistic Approach

· Late stat results in escalation of costs

· Did not achieve “business as usual” state for IFRS report

TEXMO Program on High Performance Supervisory Skills

30.06.2010

I am in Coimbatrore. It’s quite hot here. But there is a nice chilly wind blowing down from the mountains all around..

I am here to train the supervisors and managers at TEXMO Industry

I ran one of my usual activities which involves participants forming groups and making an article that is both functional and aesthetic. Once the participants were informed that there would be a penalty for drawing extra shhets of card board or color paper, they did these things:

· Planned and decided with clarity what they were going to do and decided how much cardboard they would need.

· Drew resources very carefully.

The MD of Texmo Mrs. Ramachandran took time off from her busy schedule to sit in on most of the sessions lending her views and perspectives on issues and coverage. The participants expressed great enthusiasm during the program. But , the comment that truly made me feel satisfied was the one made by Mr. S Duraiswamy, the Works Manager: He quoted the following Kural in praise of my delivery:

Behold the speech that seeks (to express) elements as bind friends and is so delivered as to make even the indifferent to listen with desire to know more. (Kural 643 Ch.65:V.3)

I have transliterated the Kural here keeping in mind the broad meaning. Surprisingly both Drew and Lazarus and V.V.S. Aiyar (my favorite) use the word “enemies” where I have used the indifferent. In my humble view, enemies would listen with interest to counter us. Those who are bored or indifferent are the real challenge for a good speaker. To make them want to hear us is the real arguably an achievement worth the effort.

Ravan-Ten Headed Bore

24.06.2010

I saw Ravanan, the movie today. Well, the good points first… Great Location…Great acting from Vikram. The last scene especially the Bridge Fight is great. The setting and the intense action reminded me of Valmiki’s failure to describe the fight between Rama and Ravana. He says there is nothing to compare with the sky or the ocean…they are incomparable. In the same way the only thing with which the personal battle between Ram and Ravan can be compared is itself! This thought was bought out in the fight scene almost in the air over a deep chasm!

Having said this the rest of the movie is boring and the link with the Ramayan is tenuous and contrived. For example a sculpture of Vishnu lies on an Island in the middle of the river in a remote valley where nobody dares to go. How did it come there? Not to mention the obvious loss of continuity due to change in locale from Amba Samudram in deep south Tamilnadu to somewhere North. We are so busy figuring this out that we miss the impact of a pivotal scene.

There is no social message. “Peranmai” the Jeyam Ravi starrer was more relevant to the displacement of the tribals and the atrocities of the police and army while attempting to strike a patriotic and more positive note.

The killing of Veera by the police officer is so obvious and filmy. Similarly, the dialogue that Ice spouts immediately after she is abducted by goondas is so cheesy. Any one would be scared shitless in that situation, not quoting “Jayamundu Bhayamillai in chaste Tamil! And the uneducated dacoit joins in the chorus for his only perfect Tamil dialogue. Aw…c’mon Mrs. Mani Ratnam…there’s a limit.

WIN/WIN--Analyzing the Consequences

23.06.2010

Sriram and I also had a discussion about the WIN/WIN thought process. Many proposals seem great at first flush. We see the obvious WIN for us in it. We try to convince ourselves and the other party that it is WIN for them too. And we claim it’s a WIN/WIN deal. Later when conflict breaks out it will be exactly in those areas that we refused or failed to address originally. Those issues that we brushedaway under the carpet will now rise up as insurmountable obstacles to completing the deal.

WIN/WIN is about analyzing the consequences and then the consequences of the consequences. After assuring ourselves of the long term sustainability of the WIN/WIN proposition we say “Deal!” If there is a possibility that the situation is likely to become LOSE/WIN or LOSE/LOSE it is better to say “WIN/WIN or No Deal!” politely shake hands with the other party and walk away!

Sharing knowledge is a great WIN/WIN! When you have one apple, I have one apple and we exchange both of us have only one apple each. But when you have one idea and I have one too, and we exchange, we have two ideas each.

Arjuna's Paradigm Shift

23.06.2010

I have been recommending the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People as propounded by Stephen R Covey to Mr. K Sriram executive taxation at Ma Foi. He has sincerely taken up a reading of the book. Today, while speaking to me, he expressed the view that after reading the first chapter of the book, he has experienced a Paradigm Shift. He was able to look at his long term goals and aspirations from a totally different perspective. I gave him some more inputs on this, especially about the Maturity Continuum and the need to internalize the private Victories that take us from Dependence to independence first. Thereafter we are ready to transition through Habits four, five and six to attain the Public Victories and thereby appreciate the need for Interdependence.

Sriram felt that the transformation that Arjun under goes around the middle of the second chapter is a Paradigm Shift. Arjuna’s problem or the Arjuna Problem as Swmi Chinmayanandaji calls it is typical and not essentially different from the problems of a professional or of an executive in a large corporation. Before we can even start the therapy or the Krishna Solution, there is a need for a shift in Paradigm from a self centric, money centric or even family centric one to the Principle Centric Paradigm. This is the Shreyas that Arjun asks of Krishna in Chapter II Verse 7 of The Gita. Do you notice that he is asking for that which is “Shreyas” or the “Best and Unalloyed Good”. Thus he is actually asking not only for himself but for all of us.